Former Senate Judiciary Staffer Joins Lobby Shop For Silicon Valley

A prestigious bi-partisan boutique lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. has hired a former top Intel lobbyist and Republican aide on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- perhaps signaling what the next hot-button issues for Silicon Valley are going to be for the next few years.

Ryan Triplette, Intel's former director of government relations, has been hired by the four-person Washington D.C. lobbying firm the Franklin Square Group. The firm represents Apple and Google on Capitol Hill, and has been helping the companies explain themselves to the members of both the Judiciary and Senate Commerce Committees, which both have jurisdiction over consumer privacy issues.

"She's very well known on the Hill for being not only political, but also for being extremely substantive, having come from the Senate Judiciary Committee," said Josh Ackil, a Democrat, and co-founder of the firm.

Triplette was Judiciary's chief intellectual property counsel, working for both Sen. Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah) and former Sen. Arlen Specter, (R-Pa.)

Ackil said that Triplette would be very helpful to the tech industry as the Judiciary Committee works to recalibrate privacy, intellectual property and competition laws.

Some of the key issues that Congress is considering right now include digital copyright, patent reform, and federal privacy rules that protect individuals from unwarranted intrusions from federal law enforcement authorities, among other things.

In a statement on its decision to hire Triplette, Franklin Square said: "Ryan first gained her political stripes working for the Republican National Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee. These experiences contributed significantly to her in depth knowledge of how to effectively navigate the legislative and political processes."